Nearly half a million Hindus braved near-freezing temperatures to wash away their sins in the icy waters of the Ganges river in northern India on Wednesday, the first day of a six-week festival.

More than 2,000 years ago, a powerful king built a fort on the banks of India's holiest river, on the fringes of what is now a vast industrial city. Today, little of the ancient construction remains, ...

India’s Ganges River shifted abruptly due to a distant yet massive earthquake around 2,500 years ago, new geologic evidence suggests. Such changes have been observed in other rivers in recent times ...

The Ganges, a lifeline for hundreds of millions across South Asia, is drying at a rate scientists say is unprecedented in recorded history. Climate change, shifting monsoons, relentless extraction and ...

NPR correspondents are taking The Two-Way with them along the historic Grand Trunk Road that stretches from the Bay of Bengal in the east to the Hindu Kush mountains in the west, across the Indian ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Though officially abolished decades ago, the caste system still profoundly influences life in India. Those born into high castes ...

VARANASI, India — Hindu priests stand on the banks of the Ganges, performing an evening prayer to the river. They wave fire as the sun sets, ring bells and tap on drums. Thousands watch, clap and ...

Worshipped by a billion Hindus and a water source for 400 million, the government is battling to save “Mother Ganga”. A man brushes his teeth as he stands in the polluted water of Ganges river in ...